1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to digital computer systems and particularly to digital computer systems using processing units having a higher computational capability than required to perform the system tasks. More particularly, this invention relates to means for power strobing the digital computer system to reduce system power utilization.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Very often digital computer systems, which may be of the type used for guiding the flight of an aircraft, use processing units which have a higher computational capability than that required to perform the system tasks. These processing units are used because they are readily available, they generally do not cost more than processing units with a lesser computational capacity and design effort to provide a specific processing unit for the application at hand is minimized. This situation suggests that when the processing unit has completed its prescribed tasks all power should be removed from any system components which are not needed to remember computational variables. Such an arrangement has the advantages of reducing system power utilization and increasing system reliability due to lower operating temperatures resulting from the reduced power utilization.